The Plugstreet Archaeological Project

9th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles (Armagh, Monaghan and Cavan Volunteers)

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9th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles (Armagh, Monaghan and Cavan Volunteers) served with the 36th Irish Division near the Peckham House, Spanbroekmolen and Kruisstraat mines, during the 1917 Battle of Messines.

Those who served with the 9th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles (Armagh, Monaghan and Cavan Volunteers)

Ireland's Unknown Soldiers: The 16th (Irish) Division in the Great War

Terence Denman

The Great War of 1914-18 saw the Irish soldier make his greatest sacrifice on Britain's behalf. Nearly 135,000 Irishmen volunteered (conscription was never applied in Ireland) in addition to the 50,000 Irish who were serving with the regular army and the reserves on 4 August 1914. Within a few weeks of the outbreak of the war no less than three Irish divisions - the 10th (Irish), 16th (Irish) and 36th (Ulster) - were formed from Irishmen, Catholic and Protestant, who responded to Lord Kitchener's call to arms. An estimated 35,000 Irish-born soldiers were killed before the armistice came in November 1918. Over 4,000 of those who died were with the 16th (Irish) Division.

Belfast Boys: How Unionists and Nationalists Fought and Died Together in the First World War

Richard S Grayson

This is the story of men from either side of West Belfast's sectarian divide during the Great War. Richard S. Grayson follows the volunteers of the 36th and 16th divisions who fought on the Somme and side-by-side at Messines, recovering the forgotten West Belfast men throughout the armed forces, from the retreat at Mons to the defeat of Germany and life post-war. In so doing, he tells a new story which challenges popular perceptions of the war and explains why remembrance remains so controversial in Belfast today. 'Provocative, meticulously researched and referenced.' --Irish Times